Hyperkin Megaretron HD Gaming Console for Genesis/Mega Drive - Sega Genesis

This is a near-perfect modern Sega Genesis console. It easily hooks up to modern tvs, and only one of my 140+ original cartridges doesn't work on it. That one game that doesn't work is Ecco (the Dolphin) 2: Tides of Time, If you're want this console just to play that one game get something else. If you want this console to play ANY other Sega Genesis game, this is a great console. The sound quality is good, this is something that is pretty much authentic to the original Sega Genesis console (as in, it's as good as it gets, which wasn't great to begin with). The graphics quality is good, but not perfect. The Megaretron uses an upscaling technique that slightly blurs the edges of sprites and text. It's not really something that detracts from it for me, but it's not exactly what the games originally looked like. If you want the PERFECT visuals of these games, you're going to want to get the Analogue Mega SG, but good luck finding one of those, they're sold out/discontinued(?) and the used ones are selling for $600 or more. Another bonus, this console works with all the original Sega Genesis peripherals that I've tried with it. It works with the original controller, the arcade controller, the third party SG ProPad (my favorite controller). It works with 32X, and the Game Genie. It also works with the Everdrive (Which does successfully emulate that Ecco: Tides of Time game on the Retron, so it's something particular to that cartridge). The controller it comes with is pretty decent too, much more comfortable to use than an original Genesis controller. The console is snappy and responsive, I never noticed any input lag or anything. I haven't noticed it causing any slow downs or speed ups in gameplay on any of my games, so the emulator is perfectly tuned as far as I can tell. The one thing the Retron isn't going to work with is the Sega/Mega CD. It has no expansion port for it, so you can scratch that off the list. I've had the Retron for 2 years now and put a lot of hours on it, so it's also got good build quality and not just 1 month lasting junk. For the price, this FAR exceeds expectations. The few shortcomings that it has are more than made up for by how well it works with modern hardware. The Analogue Mega SG is better overall, but

This is an excellent budget way to play your Genesis cartridges. I was able to get a cheap multi cart , but it doesn't work with this. Luckily I can program the cart and load up whatever game I want to play with my original Genesis, and then I can just plug that cart into this and play that game. It's an annoying workaround, but be aware that the cheap knock-off carts won't work on this. I can't speak to the pricier options, but I have my doubts on those too. As far as gameplay goes, well, it is super fun, and I don't have struggles with lag, and I'm an average to above average gamer, so I'd likely notice if it was awful. I'm no pro streamer, so perhaps it doesn't cut it for those, but I'm Mega Man and platformer player, and I've had no issues with this. Road Rash 2 has been a blast on this thing. Works perfectly! I've also been using old AT GAMES 6 button controllers, and those work just fine. I've also used retrobit's 6 button as well, and that's working AOK too! I don't have any original controllers just yet, but I'll work on that eventually. This is a great and cheap way to play original carts on an hd TV. It looks pretty good side by side with a CRT , but the colors still look best on the CRT, but this is close enough. If you have carts and no Genesis or carts and a old system that's on the fritz. Or if you dont want to deal with a CRT, then this is an excellent option. The power button and the reset button make it feel a bit like the real thing. The design is a nice homage to the real deal as well. I'm having a great time with this, and I hope you do as well!

I own several Hyperkin retro consoles, and the MegaRetron HD is my favorite. I am a lifelong Sega aficionado, having owned an original MK1 Genesis back in 1989, and a MK2 in the early 2000s. The design of this console is wonderful, evoking the styling of the original MK1 console without being a direct copy. My favorite feature is the power switch, which feels very much like the original system's and gives me a hit of nostalgia every time I flip it. The included 6-button pad is decent, but for the hard-core, you'll want to buy Retro-Bit's officially licensed reproduction, which is spot-on. Casual users should find the included pad to be perfectly adequate. It's also worth noting that Hyperkin intentionally built some heft into the unit so that it feels solid. It also has rubber feet, something the Genesis Mini cannot claim, and so overall the unit feels quality. Performance-wise, casual users should find a lot to love here. The system connects via HDMI, so it will work on modern TVs and even monitors with HDMI ports. Games play just fine, with only the most minor variations from what you'd see and hear on a genuine system for the most part. There are two significant caveats for the aficionados out there: 1. The system appears to be producing a standard-definition signal that is then routed through HDMI. This gives the video output a bit of blur, so if you're expecting perfectly crisp HD pixels, you need to lower your expectations. The system also offers no video filtering features (such as scanlines or anti-aliasing) if you're into that kind of thing, so what you see is all you're getting. Personally, I don't mind this so much since I don't like the filters most retro systems offer, and the slight blurring of the image lends some authenticity and charm to graphics that weren't *meant* to be seen pixel-perfect. 2. The second caveat is, in my mind, more significant. On the few games that use the Genesis's alternate horizontal resolution (something you may have never noticed back in the day), the system doesn't change the display resolution, and instead does a weird interpolating of horizontal pixels, leading to some noticeable pixel-crawl on certain games. Unfortunately, these tend to be some very popular titles, such as Street Fighter 2: SCE. To me this makes these games a bit ugly and rough-looking, but many casual users may not mind. Compared to the competition, such as the MiniGen or GenX, the MegaRetron HD stands out for offering HDMI capability whereas most others offer only A/V (RCA) outputs, which is a major drawback today since many newer TVs don't even have A/V connectors anymore. Most other Genesis clones are cheap and flimsy-seeming by comparison as well. The Retron5 (also from Hyperkin) is worth considering since it can play practically every major 8 and 16-bit platform's games, offers HDMI and a lot of advanced features. However, the system runs off emulation, so there's some inherent drawbacks there, and the design of the console itself is pretty utilitarian-looking. It also comes with the worst controller in history (yes, worse than a Jaguar or 3do), although it's compatible with genuine controllers. The 800-pound Gorilla in the room, Analogue's Mega SG, is unfortunately no longer available. It's a nice-looking system (although no awesome retro power switch), and offers a good array of display options and perfect reproduction of the original experience via an FPGA chip that "imitates" the original (no emulation or anything). But, even when it was available, it was far more expensive than the MegaRetron HD. So, there you have it. The MegaRetron HD is probably the best Genesis retro console still in production today. Oh, and in case you're wondering, I haven't had any luck using Master System adapters for other consoles on the Retron, although I haven't tried them all and YMMV.

I was a little worried that this wouldn't be much of an improvement over my current Sega, but when I flipped this on I knew it was a keeper. My old Sega has occasional weird lines that seem to be an issue with loose soldering on the board among other issues and I'm glad I took the chance to upgrade to this. The picture is exactly what I was hoping for-- no fancy filters. Yes, this has the Hyperkin death grip. Master games do run in PAL mode over HDMI but obviously slower on American/Japanese televisions. The original 3-Button controller from my Sega is working fine. The sound seems mixed slightly different, with the bass more full and the mids turned way down, but it might just be that my old console wasn't outputting the full spectrum correctly. This unit works fine with cheap Megadrives which is a huge plus, though Sonic 2 & Knuckles needs a very specific ROM to work correctly. Overall, I'm quite impressed with the quality of this. It looks like a mini Gen 1 Genesis complete with the volume switch as the power switch.

I'm in my 40's now, and after a difficult 7 years where I lost a grandfather and then my mother to cancer I found myself staring into this pandemic too. I thought back to simpler times thirty years ago. As a teenager one of my great joys was going to Six Flags Theme Park in Houston (Astroworld). At thirteen my friends and I would pull together our money to buy tickets to get in the park and we would ride roller coasters and try to meet girls since most of the time we were just dropped off to the park. But amazingly our #1 pastime was going to the arcade (this was in the 1980's) inside of the park. They had a game called Gauntlet that was a 4 player game where everyone played at once fighting through dungeons as a Wizard, Elf, Warrior or Valkyrie. We were addicted to the game and it ate a lot of quarters. We found a hustle at the park that would allow us to play the game free. There was a roller coaster called "Greased Lighting". Essentially it shot you out at full speed into a loop and then gravity took you back through the loop again backwards. The g forces must have made peoples quarters and change fall out of their pockets, and the seats would possibly intentionally or unintentionally collect the change by design. One of us lost our own change one time and pulled up the seat cushion to find surprisingly more than our money there. So it became a task, we'd ride it over and over at each car position and on exit we'd lift the cushion and take all the money there. Once our pockets were full we'd head down to play Gauntlet together. Times were so simple then compared to now and I was hopeful to recreate some of the joy of playing that game since Tengen made the game (Gauntlet 4) available on Sega Genesis. I obtained the game here 30 years later and only needed to decide on a console. Sega Genesis consoles from 20-30 years ago are available but this Hyperkin console being newer appealed to me. I felt like it might be more reliable. I bought it and was impressed by the boxing and presentation. I had high hopes and it came with HDMI cables and everything you need to connect to today's big screens. Everything worked perfectly and I was able to enjoy playing Gauntlet for 2 days. The colors were amazing. The sound was perfect. After 48 hours of play the controller stopped working. The game would go through the initial sequences but it would not acknowledge the start button, directional pad etc. I bought a Sega branded controller from Retrobit and it worked for a couple days before stopping. I then requested a replacement console from Amazon. It came and again worked fine 2 days before the controller stopped working. I tried multiple cartridges and they all worked until the 2 day period was over and they would not acknowledge the controller either. I mention the backstory because I had every intention of giving a 5 star review. Unfortunately I'm stuck with 2 consoles I need to return to avoid being billed, and I need to try and get my money back for the consoles. Once I get past the refunding process. I may try to buy a legit console somewhere.

I was able to purchase this console after getting myself a new HD television set to replace my old CRT television set due to it acting buggy after using it for over fifteen years, and I feel like it was time to upgrade my game consoles that I use to play my older games in my collection, namely my Sega Genesis. The Hyperkin Megaretron is basically a console that plays Genesis games in HD, though it does support composite gameplay if you prefer playing it in an original format. I was able to try out many of the games that are playable on the console, which all seem to work fine, including any multi-cart games that have over a hundred titles on them. I especially love the look and design of the console which almost reminds me of an altered version of a Model 1 Sega Genesis with the power switch being quite similar to it, and it's even able to light up with a blue beacon to let players know that it is turned on. The console even comes with a six-button controller that is a bit bulky and works fine after being able to try it out plenty of times, but thankfully, you can use the original Sega Genesis controllers on the console if you prefer, since the controller that came bundled with the console may not be for everyone. If there are any faults to the console, however, it would have to be the two second delay whenever a game is being played on an HDTV, to which you'd miss out on the first couple of seconds for a title screen or opening when you turn it on (though I'm not exactly sure if that's because of the model for the TV or whatever), and some of the sound for certain games can be a little scratchy at times, but it's nothing too noticeable. Other than that, this is still a good retro console to check out, and I actually give it four-and-a-half out of five stars.

Highly recommended to play retro games of Sega Genesis cartridges on HD tv; smooth handling of sounds and graphics. The pricing is affordable compared to the pricing of the original console, in another word get a good bang for your buck!

I could not afford an Analogue Mega Sg and the ideas and concepts of an FPGA console elude me, so the next best thing for me is an alternative like the Megaretron HD. I'm so glad I got it. I've tested NTSC-UC, NTSC-J, and PAL cartridges and they all work perfectly. The visuals are crisp, the sound is on point, and the console itself is of great quality. 8bitdo's M30 2.4ghz (the one for the original Genesis) also works wonderfully for this one. Minor point: I like that the console has some weight. I found out Hyperkin does this on purpose to avoid making the console seem like a lightweight, insubstantial device. It does not have special features like save states or loading ROMs via a microSD. It's barebones, which is not a bad thing, and is more like a modernized Sega Genesis. It's also nice that they included a USB adapter. Devices like this usually just have a USD cable and you have to get your own adapter. It also has an HDMI cable and an AV cable if you want to hook it up to a CRT TV. It's basically complete: you just need some game cartridges and an LCD/LED TV with HDMI input, and you're all set.